


On The List

by BarOfNothingham



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, American Football, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Bullying, Eventual Relationships, Football, Gay Keith (Voltron), Irish Coran, Korean Keith (Voltron), M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Build, Teenage Dorks, and see how this goes, but.. i'll try my best, coran is a biology teacher, emo keith, emo/jock au, hunk - Freeform, hunk and lance are both on the football team, i'm so bad at tagging oml, jock lance, keith lives with a foster family, lance and keith are in senior year, lance is like.. mixed, mostly because i'm scared to touch that subject, nothing hardcore tho, shiro plays on a professional football team, sorry - Freeform, this is probably a good time to say i have no knowledge in american football whatsoever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-07-29 21:54:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7701112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarOfNothingham/pseuds/BarOfNothingham
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>when Keith is moved to a new school in a new town three months before the end of his senior year, he doesn't expect much; he just wants to get by these months with as little attention drawn to him as possible, earn a good-enough diploma and leave the small town in California the moment summer begins. but in life, as keith soon learns, things rarely go according to plan.<br/>and sometimes that's a good thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is heavily based on a post by [a-chance-for-klance](http://a-chance-for-klance.tumblr.com/) , although i did make some changes and added some things, but the concept belongs to them.
> 
> this is also the first fic I've ever published AND my first voltron fic, so chances are it's really OOC and probably not so good but please bear with me ^^

It's not like Keith wasn't used to this.

It's not like he wasn't used to a broad shoulder bumping against his thinner one, shoving him so hard he hits the metal lockers on his right with a loud clatter and stumbles to the ground; It's not like he wasn't used to the eyes of students passing by focused on him, showing either pity or amusement, but never coming close to make sure he's alright; even the laughs and hollers of the attacker and his Letterman jacket-clad friends as they make their way down the hall were something he's come to terms with in the past 11 years of being a part of the public education system.

but even as he already experienced all these so many times in the past, Keith couldn't help but feel a sting of disappointment as he picked up his fallen headphones from the floor and stood up with a sigh, regaining his composure. Keith couldn't deny he was hoping something would be different this time, that maybe just this once he'll be able to walk through the school corridors without being shoved around, that he'll be able to sit in a classroom without paper balls hitting his head, that he'll be able to study at this school without being humiliated every so often, but clearly this wasn't the case.

And honestly, Keith wasn't all that surprised: not only was he the new kid who joined three months before the end of the year, but he was the new _emo_ kid who joined three months before the end of the year. He was basically an invitation to asshole jocks like the one he just encountered, he just didn't expect it to start on his very first day at school.  
Looking around him Keith noticed the crowds were beginning to shrink, meaning the first lesson was about to begin and he still hasn't figured out where the biology lab was located. fixing his black messenger bag, Keith hurried down the hall to where a student vaguely pointed when he asked.

By the time Keith found the door labeled as 'biology lab', the corridor around him was completely empty. embracing the fact he was late to his first class in this school Keith knocked on the white door,and before he could blink twice the door was swung open and in front of Keith stood a middle-aged man with wild ginger hair brushed backward and a big mustache.  
"You must be the new student Keith, Come on in!" He said in a thick Irish accent, smiled widely and moved to let Keith wander into the lab.

As Keith stopped in front of the rows of lab tables and looked around, he could feel almost everyone looking at him. With Big headphones draped over his neck,wearing all black aside from red doc martens and wristbands, and bangs covering nearly half his face, he was definitely someone people stared at often, even more so when he wandered into their class out of the blue. There was a second of silence as he studied the people around him and they studied him when the man who opened the door for him -who he assumed was the biology teacher- spoke up.

"Students, please meet Keith Gyeong, he'll be a student in our school starting today" he turned to Keith, stretching his hand out "I'm Coran, your biology teacher" Keith nodded and shook his hand, wondering if he'll have to go through this tiring process every time he enters a lesson for the first time.  
Then Coran looked at a table in the front row and gestured to one of the students sitting there. "Hunk, would you mind giving Keith your seat and sitting on your own until we find a way for everyone to have a partner?"  
Hunk slouched in his chair, clearly unhappy with the situation "but Coran, I like it here! This seat is really comfortable!" Several students snickered, including the one sitting next to Hunk. When Keith looked at his to-be lab partner, however, he felt like throwing up.  
The boy sat with his legs folded over the table, mindless to the lab equipment he's endangering by doing so as he laughed with his friend, and if that wasn't enough, draped over his chair was a Letterman jacket in the school's colors of dark and light blue.  
there was _no way_ Keith was going to spend every biology class in the next three months next to a jock of all people. he could've jumped out a window and cause himself the same damage sitting next to that asshole would without spending three tiring months on it.  
with that thought in mind, Keith turned to Coran who was trying to silence the students while convincing Hunk to move at the same time.  
"It's okay Coran, I can just sit alone" he tried to reason, drawing the attention of the boy sitting next to Hunk who immediately straightened up in his seat and called out to Coran.  
"You heard the boy, Coran! let him stay a loner and let me keep my cute little Hunk!" as he said that, the boy wrapped his arm around Hunk's neck and pulled him slightly downwards, both of them wearing the best puppy-faces the could muster.  
"In fact, Lance, that's exactly what we're trying to prevent. so you better be nice and show Keith here" -Coran patted Keith's back as he said that- "around the school, and forget about sitting with your cute little Hunk for the time being" the students around them started laughing, obviously enjoying the drama stalling their biology class. as Hunk begrudgingly made his way to the other side of the class to an empty table and Keith slipped into his previous place, the boy -Lance- snorted and re-positioned his legs on top of the table, looking at the floor next to him. "this is so unfair" he mumbled indignantly, and Keith couldn't agree more.

After that, the class went on normally and surprisingly wasn't as boring as Keith had feared it to be. Coran's enthusiasm was occasionally amusing and slightly contagious, causing Keith -and most of the students, it seemed- to listen with more attention than they'd like to admit. Even Lance gave up on his indignant facade in favor of writing down notes at some point during the lesson.  
But even so, as the class was coming to an end Keith became more and more impatient to get out of there and find a peaceful, jock-free place to have his lunch in.  
when at last Coran dismissed the class, Keith had to hold himself back from running outside and instead kept a sane pace while packing notebooks and pens into his black messenger bag. Just as he threw the bag over his shoulder and was getting up, he heard a voice coming from in front of him.  
"well, I should probably give you that tour Coran was babbling about"  
Keith looked up to find lance standing across from him on the other side of the table, now wearing his Jacket and a hand impatiently placed on his hip. He soon noticed Lance's blue eyes scan him, taking extra time to take in his Fall Out Boy t-shirt and the eyeliner around his eyes, and for some reason the gaze made Keith want to cover himself up even though he was fully dressed. He chased the ridiculous thought away, instead shaking his head, mumbling a "no thank you" and getting out of there and to the safety of an isolated place as soon as possible. as he was walking out the door, he could hear lance groan loudly and mumble to himself in an irritated tone.

  
_well, that went well_


	2. Chapter 2

the days following Keith's first entrance to K. Alfor high school went by fairly well, aside from an occasional insult or hallway shove. that is, of course, until two days later when the next biology class arrived.  
Keith slowly made his way across the half-empty lab, sighing in relief when he saw the seat next to his was still empty.  
Just as Keith took his seat in the front row, however, a boisterous laugh filled the room. Keith looked up to find Lance walking in with three other boys -all of them jocks, unsurprisingly- and laughing at the top of his lungs. the other three were laughing as well, Keith noticed, but somehow Lance's laugh stood out the most. -Like he was trying to show off how much fun he was having- Keith reflected and turned back to arranging his side of the table for the upcoming lesson.  
  
To Keith's relief, Lance only approached their table once Coran entered the lab and saved Keith from any uncomfortable chat with Lance for that day. Or so he thought.  
  
Coran pulled a bundle of papers from his bag, smiling suspiciously at the students, and started walking around the lab to place a paper on every table.  
"Starting today," Coran said, moving around tables with ease. "you'll be working with your lab partner on an assignment. you can choose to write about whatever subject you like from this year's curriculum, but you must follow the instructions on the information sheet I'm handing out." Coran handed the last sheet of paper and returned to stand at the front of the class. "the assignment is due in two weeks, I will give you this one lesson to start discussing your assignment but after that, you'll have to plan your free time accordingly to finish the assignment with your partner. Good luck!" and with that he swiftly left the lab, leaving the half dumbstruck students to work on their assignments.  
  
It took Keith a second to process the meaning of Coran's instructions, but the moment he did he felt his heart fill with dread. Working on an assignment with a person like Lance would be a nightmare, he was sure. Lance was the type of guy who would most likely leave the majority of work to Keith, and Keith was not going to have any of that. _I'll be very clear_ ,Keith thought, _I'll turn to lance right now and tell him straight to his bright blue eyes that he better do his part in this assignment, or-_  
_oh_  
  
when Keith turned to his left, he found the place that previously held Lance empty. instead, Keith spotted him on the other side of the lab playfully talking to a girl with blonde hair and fair skin. _typical_ Keith thought bitterly, turning to the instruction sheet laid in front of him and starting to read it in hopes that Lance will join and help him soon. However as ten minutes passed, and then another ten, Lance was showing no signs of returning to his seat and Keith's patience was running thin. in a spur-of-the-moment decision Keith stood up, turned left and headed to where lance was now sitting on the blonde girl's table and laughing with her, so caught up in each other neither of them noticed his approaching figure.  
  
"Lance" he called out, hoping he didn't sound as miserable as he currently felt.  
  
Lance stopped laughing and looked at Keith, a curious look on his face. "You need anything?" he asked.  
"I-" Keith started when the girl leaned up to whisper something in Lance's ear, causing him to quietly snicker. Keith took a deep breath -you got this Keith, tell him what's on your mind-.  
"We need to, um, Coran said we should work on the assignment now." _nailed it_.  
Lance sighed, leaving his place on the girl's table and jokingly holding his hands up. "Alright, alright," he said, turning to the disappointed girl "I'll talk to you later, my dear partner needs me" he winked, the girl giggled and Keith had to suppress a groan. _at least I got him to stop flirting for now_  
  
They spent the remainder of the lesson trying to come up with a subject for their assignment, a task that proved to be pretty difficult as Keith barely communicated with Lance, and when he did it was mainly to disagree with Lance's ridiculous ideas. However just as the lesson was coming to an end they found a subject they were both okay with, and with that written down they both started packing their equipment. After the particularly unpleasant lesson, Keith was more than eager to put on his headphones and find some comfort in music while he makes his way to the next class, but his hopes were shattered when Lance turned to him.  
"What lesson do you have now?" he asked, closing a blue pencil case and flipping it in his hand.  
Forcing himself not to ignore the question altogether, Keith answered "literature" and slung his messenger bag over his shoulder.  
"Really? Mine too!" wonderful, MORE time with Lance- Keith's day could not get any worse. Annoyed with his lack of luck, Keith left the lab without saying another word.  
  
  
Literature class, To Keith's relief, went by fairly well. He was pleased to find out his seat was at the back of the class -and far from Lance's seat, too- and despite Lance and his friends refusing to keep it down for even two minutes, he could still get most of what the teacher was saying.  
about halfway into the lesson, the teacher announced she's going to print some papers and will be back soon. Of course, as soon as the door closed behind her everyone started talking to each other, and in an attempt to block out the awful noise Keith pulled out his phone and headphones.  
  
However not long after the first song started playing, the big headphones were abruptly yanked off his head and thrown on the floor in front of him. Looking up in surprise, Keith met eyes with a tall, muscular boy who was smirking down at him with contempt.  
"What do you want" Keith half-asked, never breaking eye contact. The boy shrugged, looking back to a group of jocks gathered on the other side of the classroom. _oh, of course_ , the tension in Keith's shoulders eased and he slumped forward a little. _he's just trying to impress his jock friends_. Keith was used to that type of behavior; he'll just brave through it until the teacher comes back.  
That was when Keith felt a big hand grab at his chin, turning his face so he was looking closely into the boy's hooded, dark eyes.  
"that's some interesting makeup you got there," the boy said slyly, turning Keith's head from side to side "it's kinda awful, to be honest. looks like you're cross-dressing". by now the majority of students were looking at them, and Keith wanted to disappear into the ground.

In the corner of his eye, Keith saw a figure stand up from the gathering of jocks and head their way. "Rolo, that's enough" _-was that Lance's voice? when did he get so close to them?_  
Rolo straightened up from his crouching position, still lightly gripping Keith's jaw, and turned to Lance who was now standing right behind him. "What's wrong Mcclain, can't handle some honesty?"  
"You already proved your point, just leave him alone". For a second Rolo seemed a little shaken by lance's words, but he quickly regained his confident facade. He muttered an annoyed "whatever" and held up his other hand, in which he was apparently holding a water bottle. maybe the situation was worse than Keith initially thought. "I wonder if we can wash it off?" the boy flashed a fake smile, pulling the hand holding a water bottle back to gain momentum. Keith flinched and closed his eyes, waiting for the cold liquid to hit his face, but it never did.  
  
Looking up dreadfully, Keith couldn't help but be a little shocked at what he saw. Lance was tightly clutching Rolo's arm and pulling him away from Keith, a heated look on his face. He opened his mouth to talk, but at that moment the door swung open and at once the entire classroom went silent.  
  
"Lance, Rolo, detention this afternoon."  
  
after that everyone settled down, and the lesson continued as normally as it possibly could. The teacher gave a short lecture about how important it is to stay seated while a teacher is gone and then returned to her previous plans of handing out printed stories and analyzing them.  
At first Keith tried to focus on what the teacher was saying, but he soon gave up as his mind kept wandering back to Lance. _Why would he do that?_ they weren't anything close to friends, while Rolo and Lance were both jocks, on the same team.. it would have made sense if Lance was to help Rolo, not Keith.  
As the class was coming to an end and Keith still had no grasp of lance's motives, he decided he might as well confront Lance about it and ask. Besides, whatever his motives were, the fact was Lance has prevented a pretty unpleasant thing from happening to Keith.  
  
so while it was hard to admit, Keith might owe him a 'thank you' as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things will get sort of interesting soon i promise


	3. Chapter 3

Keith sighed, opening his phone to choose a song and securing his headphones to their place on his head. He wasn't sure what made him stick around until Lance was out of detention- he could have easily talked to Lance the next day when they met at school again. However, when Keith's last lesson for the day ended and everyone around him rushed out, eager to get home, he found himself lingering around the classroom and mindlessly scribbling in his notebook. By the time Keith noticed what he was doing and looked at the wall clock hung above the door, two hours have passed and Keith thought he might as well just wait the rest of Lance's detention out.  
And so here he was, sitting on the staircase leading into their school's old main building, loosely hugging his bent legs and listening to P!ATD. the sun was just starting to set, casting a soft golden light on everything around and giving the empty school yard a serene look.  
Keith pulled the headphones down to his neck and closed his eyes, enjoying the tranquility of the setting and unaware of a figure walking out the building's wide doorway.  
  
"Keith?"  
  
Keith turned around to find Lance standing a few stairs behind him, his brown backpack casually slung over one shoulder and his ever-present Letterman jacket on top of it, looking at Keith with mild confusion and a hint of surprise. Keith stood up, not bothering to pull the headphones from his neck, and turned to face Lance completely. there was a moment of silence as they both studied each other, neither remembering to say anything. Keith couldn't help but notice the way the sun reflected in Lance's eyes, but quickly discarded the thought and reminded himself the reason he stuck around all these hours rather than going home. unfortunately, just as Keith opened his mouth to speak Lance did too.  
  
"anywa-"  
"so-"  
  
Keith locked eyes with Lance, both clearly taken aback, and gestured at him.  
"go first"  
  
"yeah, so," Lance huffed, running a hand through his short dark hair. "Why are you here? you didn't get detention or anything" he looked at Keith, the question lingering, and if Keith didn't know better he would have thought he felt a shred of hopefulness in Lance's voice.  
"actually, about that," he started, desperately trying to figure out what he was going to say. _you'd think I would be ready for this after three and a half hours of preparing_ Keith silently reproached himself, deciding to just be blunt and hope for the best.  
  
"why did you help me back then? we're not even friends"  
  
It took Lance a second to fully understand what Keith was referring to, but once he did Lance choked out a shaky laugh and took several steps down the stairs, gesturing with his head for Keith to join him as they slowly made their way across the yard and parking lot, towards the school's gate. Everything was oddly quiet at first, but soon enough the sounds of other people -presumably other students leaving detention- invaded the silence. looking back Keith saw a few students start walking towards the other side of the parking lot. _was Lance trying to get away from them?_  
Just as the thought crossed Keith's mind, Lance spoke up.  
"Even if we're not friends, you're still a person. And Rolo shouldn't have been such a jerk to you." Lance spoke in a low voice as if he was afraid someone would hear, but the anger was still slightly prominent in his words. "besides, he was just trying to show he had the guts to do it. it was dumb so it pissed me off" he added, trying for a lighter tone as reached to run a hand through his hair again.  
The awkward silence returned. Keith swallowed nervously, mentally preparing for what he was about to say.  
"well, thank you. for helping out." Keith said, looking at the pavement between them. Lance smiled at him, muttering a "no problem" and finally looking up, Keith replied him with a small smile of his own.  
"then I'll see you tomorrow" Keith added, turning on his heel and at last walking towards his bus station. behind him, he could hear Lance blurt out a flustered "y-yeah" and then the sound of retreating footsteps.  
  
As he made his way down the darkening street, Keith allowed himself to ponder Lance's answer to his question. He sounded sincere, and surprisingly Keith found himself trusting Lance to tell the truth anyway. In fact, that day was a little surprising when it came to Lance. He stood up for someone he barely knew, took a punishment for it without complaining, and was if Keith was being honest, a little sweet.  
Keith wasn't entirely sure what to think of Lance yet. Sometimes he'd make Keith want to throw himself out the window, and a moment later he'd be, well, not a jerk. And he was a jock on top of that, the only group of people Keith has strictly decided will never be on the list of the very few people he trusts. However as Keith arrived at the station and boarded his bus, he decided he doesn't have to trust Lance to try and get an image of who he actually is.  
  
Because whoever that was, he definitely isn't as bad as Keith initially thought.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so ashamed of this chapter tbh.  
> sorry you had to read this disaster, it'll be worth it when i get my shit together

**Author's Note:**

> if you've made it so far, thanks for reading this chapter! i'll try updating pretty often but man, who knows anymore.  
> also if you wanna check out my tumblr [that's super cool and i won't stop you](http://barofnothingham.tumblr.com/)


End file.
